Flu: When Should You Go to the ER

The flu is an irritant that makes more people vulnerable to the illness yearly after picking up the virus and reading about hospitalizations and fatalities. The situation is significant to induce panic in many people, making them rush to hospitals seeking emergency treatment for their condition.

While it is true that thousands end up in hospitals from symptoms of the flu, countless numbers also die after picking up the virus in hospitals making this condition a problem not to mess with.

If you have the flu, it doesn’t indicate you are on a danger list. However, you are responsible for knowing where you can get 24/7 flu treatment to safeguard yourself and put your mind at ease by learning what you should look out for.

How The Flu Differs from a Cold?

If you have a severe cold, you can believe you might have contracted the flu. The similarity between common cold symptoms and the flu can confuse you. However, when you have a severe cold, besides the miserable feeling, you also have a stuffy nose and head. In addition, you will feel physically cold besides having a headache, sore throat, cough, and a general sense of being unwell.

On the other hand, if you have the flu, you will likely have all the above, with the flu making a rapid onset with other symptoms of fever, extreme fatigue, dizziness, challenges breathing, muscle and body aches, et cetera.

A unique feature of the flu is it does not cause stomach upsets in adults because the stomach flu isn’t the same as influenza.

Treating Flu at Home

Getting the flu vaccination maximizes your protection to have a head start in battling the flu infection before it affects you, which can happen even after you are vaccinated. Generally, adults can treat themselves at home by visiting their primary care doctors, clinics, or emergency rooms. In addition, consider using over-the-counter painkillers to ease aches and pains, decongestants to deal with congestion, drinking plenty of fluids to battle dehydration, and getting rest, giving your body the time needed to fight off the flu.

You can find drugs that are effective in battling the flu if ingested within 48 hours of the onset of the symptoms. You will not receive any help from antibiotics because they are effective against bacterial infections, and the flu is a virus. You receive assistance from antibiotics if you develop secondary infections in the ears, lungs, and sinuses.

The flu leaves you feeling sick for a week or more, but generally, you heal by taking plenty of rest and treating the symptoms.

High-Risk Groups

When the flu season is around, knowing whether you or someone close falls into the High-Risk group helps you remain vigilant. The symptoms you must watch out for include the following:

• Children under two and five developing flu symptoms need close monitoring.
• Caregivers of high-risk groups are also vulnerable to developing the illness.
• People with chronic conditions like heart problems, lung disease, and asthma are also vulnerable.
• In addition, people with suppressed immune systems from medications or health issues, pregnant women, and people living in care facilities with the flu virus have a free run.

People in the circumstances mentioned above are more vulnerable to the flu virus because their bodies are ill-equipped to battle the infection, giving it more freedom to cause additional damage. Therefore, people in the High-Risk groups must have access to an ER near me to deal with the situation if they need medical attention.

Severe Flu Complications

Some symptoms indicate a severe complication that needs urgent medical intervention. For example, people have shortness of breath, rapid or trouble breathing, chest pain or pressure, bluish nails, and lips, fever over 100.4° Fahrenheit, dizziness and confusion, severe vomiting, or symptoms that appear to subside but return after worsening.

People with the above symptoms need medical intervention at the earliest, which they can receive from the emergency room in Houston, TX, whenever they visit them. In addition, the Houston emergency room operates 24/7, making it convenient for people in the high-risk group to receive the treatment necessary in the ER should they need to visit them with severe complications.

The flu is not life-threatening unless it affects people in High-Risk groups and children under two and five. Therefore if you experience symptoms of a severe cold, you find it beneficial to receive treatment from your primary healthcare provider to ensure it doesn’t aggravate into the flu to send you rushing to an ER near you seeking emergency treatment.

Emergency Room Houston, TX, treats many patients with flulike symptoms arriving at their facility belonging to the high-risk groups. However, while you can receive treatment from emergency rooms for the flu, the better option is to seek an urgent care appointment with your primary healthcare provider can consider emergency room visits as a last resort for the flu.